AST PROF

Candidates for this rank shall hold the highest degree appropriate to their field or possess equivalent qualifications based on professional experience.

Assistant Professor in Music Composition

Position: Full-time, 9-month, tenure-accruing faculty position

Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2026

Salary: $61–63,000 based on qualifications and experience.  With a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package

The University of Florida School of Music invites applications for a tenure-track, full-time position in Composition. We seek a colleague who will play an essential role in both our music theory and composition programs by teaching courses in both areas at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Specifically, the successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the core undergraduate written music theory sequence and the composition skills sequence, teach individual composition lessons, and offer graduate and advanced undergraduate classes in music theory, composition, and analysis. The candidate’s area of specialization is open but should complement current strengths in our program.

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for justice on local and global levels.

This position is covered by the United Faculty of Florida Contract. You can view this employment union contract here https://admin.hr.ufl.edu/compliance/employee-relations-and-ethics/union-negotiations/united-faculty-of-florida-contract/.

Responsibilities

• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses including but not limited to courses in the undergraduate music theory sequence, undergraduate composition skills, advanced undergraduate music theory and analysis, graduate seminars in composition, and individual composition lessons
• Supervise undergraduate honor projects and graduate theses
• Maintain an active national and international creative research profile in area(s) of specialization, consistent with the expectation of tenure and promotion 
• Participate fully in shared governance through service to the School of Music, College of the Arts, and the University of Florida
• Participate in our School of Music community including activities such as colloquia, guest-scholar residencies, administration of exams, recruiting, and admissions

SCHOOL OF MUSIC: Organized within the College of the Arts, the School of Music plays an important role in the academic and cultural life of the University, the College’s Creative Campus initiative and the community. The School has 40 full-time and nine adjunct faculty, serving some 200 graduate and 200 undergraduate music majors. Degree programs include B.A., B.M., M.M., D.M.A., and the Ph.D. in music education, composition, ethnomusicology, and historical musicology. Program emphases include performance, music education, theory, composition, music history and literature, ethnomusicology, conducting, and sacred music. The School of Music is also home to the UF Bands program, which includes “The Pride of the Sunshine” Gator Marching Band. School of Music facilities include the School of Music Building and Steinbrenner Band Hall, among others. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/music. 

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 130 faculty members in its three accredited schools—the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.

THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural, and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida.

$61,000 – $63,000 based on qualifications and experience.  With a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package

The successful candidate must meet all of the following

• Terminal degree in music composition or a closely related field; ABD (all but dissertation) candidates who will have degree conferred prior to appointment date will be considered
• Record of success in teaching core undergraduate written music theory
• Record of and/or potential for achievement in the field at a national or international level, in alignment with the unit’s tenure and promotion criteria
• Evidence of successful collaboration and collegiality with faculty, students, and staff 
• Evidence of skill in designing and facilitating academic work that advances curiosity, respect, open intellectual discourse, and the welcome incorporation and well-being of all in an environment of complex differences

The successful candidate will meet some of the following

• Teaching experience of two or more years beyond graduate assistantship at the college/university level
• Evidence of a commitment to innovative and cross-disciplinary curricula
• Secondary area of specialization in a related field, such as performance, music technology, or another area
• Evidence of a commitment to making positive change through creativity, including forward-looking engagement with technology and exploration of the relations between sound and the social world
• Ability to teach theory courses incorporating popular music, jazz, or music traditions outside of the Western canon

Application Timeline: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until an applicant pool is established. To ensure full consideration, all application documents must be submitted by November 15, 2025. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the committee and/or hiring authority.

Application Process: Applications must be submitted via the University of Florida’s online application system.

Online applications must include the following: 

• A detailed letter of application that explains how you match the particular qualifications of this position and how your work and perspective will contribute to and enhance our transformative community
• Curriculum vitae
• Names and contact information of three references
• Link to recordings—and scores where appropriate—for three representative compositions

Pease note: the UF system will give you the option to upload letters of reference. We are not requiring letters of reference with initial application materials. Please ignore that option.

The Search Committee may request additional materials at a later time.

Inquiries may be sent to:
George Adams
Chair, Music Composition Assistant Professor Search Committee
georgeadams@ufl.edu

The selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an educational institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). 

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call +1 (352) 392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at +1 (800) 955-8771 (TDD). Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida’s Sunshine Law.